Born in Grenada, Nancy was the daughter of George Stephens, an estate manager on Diamond plantation. Located just south of Waltham, close to the north-west coast, this 512 acre estate cultivated sugarcane with a watermill. Both its owner, William Smith, and Stephens were close friends of Ninian Home.

During Nancy’s early years she was looked after a nanny called Kate who was an enslaved Black woman. Nancy would have witnessed the treatment that enslaved people encountered daily in Grenada. Following her father’s death (October 1787), Nancy, aged five, was brought to Scotland to be cared for by Ninian’s brother, George, and aunt, Jean Home. She grew up at Paxton House and Wedderburn Castle.

Nancy had fond memories of her nanny, as when she ‘inherited’ Kate in 1801 she wanted to give Kate her freedom ‘immediately’. Nancy sent Kate a gift of a gown in 1812, and an ’English shawl’ in 1816 (GD267/5/36 & 38).

Nancy was a close friend of Grace Purves (1784-1814), the beloved first wife of Admiral Sir David Milne. Six years after Grace’s death, Nancy became the Admiral second wife (on 8th September 1819). Theirs was not a happy marriage, but Nancy became Lady Milne. She lived at Paxton from 1796 and effectively ran the household for the remainder of her life. This portrait depicts Nancy in her fifties.